Uncle Poe
by Griffin Stone
Summary: (Slight AU; has canon character from 1987 show) After Webby and Violet bring Lena back from the Shadow Realm, the family learns that she has an "uncle" who isn't evil. Della, the boys, and Webby go to meet Poe, and find a couple surprises in him.


**A/N: I got distracted and threw this together. High impulse, so please let me know if something doesn't quite add up. And, saying it now, I probably make a follow-up story. (If anyone reads this and wants to continue it, feel free and let me know!)**

**Now, none of these characters belong to me. Poe came from the 1987 show. This one-shot was inspired by the hope that he makes an appearance in the reboot.**

* * *

There had only been one young bird in the house when Della went to bed. The mansion was big, but not big enough to hide two young birds for who-knew-how-long. Of course, she hadn't been back for long, maybe the family had forgotten to mention the others or-

The point was, there had been one young bird in the house when Della went to bed. When she got up, there were six at the dining room table.

Della greeted her boys like she always did, though she was distracted. Her eyes were on the young purple hummingbird and duckteen, leaning in close with Webby. The three young females were whispering and grinning.

"So, who's the new birds?" Della finally asked, sliding in beside Dewey.

"The pink-haired one is Lena. We're still waiting for the explanation on how she got back," Dewey said.

"What?"

"Long story." Dewey shrugged. "And the other is…"

"Violet," Mrs. Beakly supplied, setting a table in front of Della. "Webby's new friend. She spent the night and helped bring Lena back."

On the other side of Dewey, Huey choked. "Wait, that's actually Lena?"

"It's not a gas leak causing mass hallucination," Louie said through a beakful of toast.

Della glanced at the normal-looking duckteen, then back to Dewey. "Okay, I give up. What's the story here?"

"Well, do you know about Magica DeSpell?" Dewey asked.

Della nodded. "Sure. I was there when Uncle Scrooge defeated her fifteen years ago. So was Donald."

"Well, before Uncle Scrooge put her into his Number-One Dime-"

What?

"She did something with her magic that brought her shadow to life or something? Anyway, Lena was running around for fifteen years, trying to steal Uncle Scrooge's dime so he could bring Magica back."

Della blinked. "And now she's in the mansion."

"Oh, she already brought Magica back."

"Okay, so, I can't emphasize this enough, but…" Della pressed a hand to her head. "Why is she here?"

"Lena's a good guy now, and Magica has no more magic. Lena sacrificed herself to save Webby, then got banished back to the Shadow Realm."

"I've always wanted to go there," Della said.

"You don't. Trust me."

Della startled at the voice. She turned to see Lena watching her and Dewey. The girl's tone was rather bland, but Della could see a hint of fear in her eyes. She nodded slowly.

"Lena, this is our mom, Della. Mom, Lena," Dewey said.

Lena waved, then turned back to the other girls. Della couldn't take her eyes off Lena for a moment. Why did she look so familiar? Maybe she just took after Magica.

"So, what then?" Della asked, tearing her eyes off Lena.

"I don't know."

"Violet had Lena's amulet," Mrs. Beakly contributed. "They… accidentally performed some dark magic and brought Lena back."

Della grinned. "Sounds like a normal day."

"Yes," Mrs. Beakly said, looking at the girls with fondness.

"What?!"

Webby's yell caught everyone's attention. The duckling had rocked back in her chair, staring at Lena with wide eyes.

Webby twisted in her seat. "Granny! Tell Lena she can stay with us!"

Mrs. Beakly blinked. "This is all rather sudden-"

"Granny!"

"But of course she's welcome to stay."

Webby spun back to Lena. "See?"

"I don't want to intrude," Lena said.

"Where else would you go?" Mrs. Beakly asked. "Back to the theater?"

Lena shook her head. "I'll go to Uncle Poe's."

"You have an uncle?!" Webby exclaimed. "That's a bad idea!"

"Relax, Uncle Poe isn't evil," Lena said with a chuckle. "That's why I wasn't living him before. That, and I think Aunt Magica was just mad he couldn't bring her back."

Della mouthed, "Aunt Magica" to Dewey. Her son shrugged and grinned.

"I haven't seen him for a few years," Lena said, expression going distant. "I hope he's doing okay. Uncle Poe's a little… distracted."

The hummingbird, Violet, tilted her head. "Is your uncle a good caregiver?"

"He tries," Lena said, a secretive little grin on her beak. "You guys want to meet him?"

All the ducklings leaped up in their chairs, throwing their fists in the air with a cheerful yell. Violet simply nodded.

Lena looked at Della. "How about you?"

"I have to say, I'm curious about this 'Poe.' You mean to say that Magica has a brother?"

Lena nodded. "Yep."

"Then I'm all for it."

* * *

A bit later, Della and the kids -minus Violet, who had gone home- were walking through Duckburg. Lena led the way, refusing to say anything else about her uncle while she led the way.

Eventually, the group found themselves on the outskirts of Duckburg. Here, the houses were further apart.

Lena stopped at an overgrown driveway. At the end of the rutted dirt road was a small, single-story house. A chain-link fence surrounded the entire property, with a hole at the end of the driveway. The property was in decent shape, though Della thought the sagging porch roof looked unsafe.

"Good, he's still here!" Lena said, obviously seeing something Della didn't. "Hm, maybe I should stay with him. Uncle Poe can't really do heavy house work."

"Why not?" Webby asked.

"You'll see," Lena said, her secretive smile turning downright mischievous. "Now, come on! Uncle Poe will want to meet you!"

Della stayed at the back of the group, bemused. Just what was Lena up to?

"Uncle Poe!" Lena called, stepping onto the questionable porch. "Uncle Poe, are you here?"

"Yes, yes!" a screechy voice yelled. "Come in, Lena! Rawwk!"

Della raised an eyebrow at the sound Poe had made at the end of his sentence. Some sort of squawk? Maybe it hadn't been him.

Lena had to push her whole weight against the door, slowly opening it with a protesting screech. Della and the kids winced.

"Sorry," Lena said when the door was open. "Sometimes Uncle Poe forgets to oil the door."

"How could you forget, dealing with that on a daily basis?" Huey asked, eyeing the door.

"Like I said, Uncle Poe is distracted."

"Who are you talking to, Lena?" Poe asked.

"Friends." Lena waved for the others to follow into another room.

"Rawwk! Friends, you say? I knew you would. Come in, come in, everyone!"

Della gazed around the house as she slowly followed. Like the outside, it was passably clean. There was an abundance of small black feathers on the floor, though.

"This is Webby, Violet, Huey, Dewey, and Louie," Lena said.

Della peered into the new room. It appeared to be a living room/study/lab. Bookshelves of books, bottles, and knickknacks lined the walls. Tables, covered with tools and chemistry equipment, took up a majority of the center of the room, and there was a chair toward the back of the room. Small perches -like the kinds for pet birds- were scattered around the room.

In the center of the mess was a small black raven standing on a perch. Not a regular raven, but the animal kind with fingerless wings that folded on his back and stubby legs. He had on a small brown hat.

The raven raised a wing. "Hello, everyone!"

Della, despite all the crazy things she'd seen, jumped at the voice of "Uncle Poe."

The raven -that couldn't really be Poe, could it?- looked at Lena. "Rawwk! You didn't tell them?"

Lena snickered. "They wouldn't have believed me."

"Fair enough."

"And I told them about Aunt Magica. But don't worry. I told them you're a good guy." Lena faced the others. "I didn't mean to shock you like that, but this is my Uncle Poe."

"Uh…" Dewey raised a hand, then dropped it. "I don't really see the resemblance. No offense."

"None taken." Poe waved a wing. "Truth is, I didn't always look like this. In my real body, Lena's got my beak."

"Speaking of family resemblances," Lena trailed off. She ran over to Della and grabbed her arm to tug her fully into the room. "Uncle Poe, this is…"

Della glanced at Lena, wondering why she'd stopped. Lena just grinned at Poe. Della focused back on Poe, right as the raven stiffened.

"Lena!" Poe shrieked, hiding his face in his wings. "You didn't!"

"Uncle Poe!" Lena ran back to Poe. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you!"

"A-are you okay?" Della asked. Because, as odd of a body Poe had, the bird was obviously distressed.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Della," Poe murmured into his wings.

"What's wrong?" Huey asked.

"He's a mind-reader!" Webby whispered. Della and the boys raised their eyebrows. "He's got to be. Lena never said Della's name!"

Della looked quickly back at Lena and Poe. Webby was right! How did Poe know her name?

Poe peeked out of his wings. "Wait, you see her, too? Lena, she's really here? Not just a shadow friend of yours?"

"I can't bring other shadows from the Shadow Realm, Uncle Poe," Lena said. Paused. "I think. Anyway, no. She's really here."

"Buh-but…" Poe dropped his wings. "Everyone thought you died ten years ago."

Oh, he must have seen her on the news when she disappeared. Though, why he would remember a lost explorer after ten years was beyond her.

"Read a newspaper, Uncle Poe," Lena said, rolling her eyes. "She got back a few weeks ago."

"Oh." Poe looked at Della with an odd, joyful light in his eyes.

Okay, now Della was getting uncomfortable. Luckily, Dewey spoke up.

"How do you know Mom?"

Poe made a weird noise and fell backward. Lena narrowly caught him and helped him stand on her arm.

"I get it," Della said, trying to break the awkwardness. "Everyone thought I was dead for ten years, but I'm back. Yay. Can we, er… move on?"

"Yeah, what's your deal?" Louie asked. "Did you know her before?"

Poe wordlessly nodded. Lena nodded as well.

Della shook her head. "I've never met the two of you."

"Not me," Lena said. "I only saw you through the window because Aunt Magica didn't want me interacting with you Ducks until it was time."

Della looked at Poe. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember you." She didn't know many ravens to begin with, never mind one stuck in animal form.

"Well, I didn't always look like this. Rawwk." Poe said. He was a bit steadier now, his voice stronger. "After Scrooge beat Magica, I spent a few years trying to bring her back with potions. Most backfired, and one changed my form."

"We've still got a painting from before," Lena offered.

"Well, show them! Rawwk!" Poe flapped his wings, but stayed on his perch. "It… it'll be easier than trying to explain."

Lena gestured for the totally confused group to follow. They followed her through a kitchen, into a bedroom. Lena carefully made her way through the clutter of books, blankets, bottles, and tools to a closet. She set Poe on the floor, then opened the closet and dug around for a minute before turning with a painting.

Until then, Della had been assuming that Poe had always been a raven. Maybe the "brother" and "sister" thing between him and Magica wasn't real, like how Lena called them her uncle and aunt.

But the painting showed a smiling duck wearing the same hat as the crow Poe and a lab coat. Lena had been right when she said she had Poe's beak. Della realized Lena was familiar because she and Poe had Dewey's beak. Huh, Poe had Huey's head feathers and the sleepy expression of-

Della blinked and looked at Poe. "Oh, sweet mother of a feather down mattress."

"Are you okay, Mom?" Huey asked, sounding worried. "Do you know Poe?"

Did she know Poe? Did she know Poe!

"What happened to you?!" Della yelled, fury rising in her and making her eyes burn. "You just vanished!"

Poe cowered. "I'm sorry! When this happened, I didn't want to explain about Magica! A-and then I was going to, but I needed to get my body back to explain, but then you vanished and- and…" Poe sniffled. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, you feathery excuse of a beanpole!"

Della scooped up Poe, ignoring his startled squawk. She hugged him against herself. She smiled as she felt wings tentatively hug her back. She let out a shaky breath, then held Poe out a bit.

"I really did mean to come back," Poe whispered.

"Don't vanish on me again," Della whispered back. "And I'll forgive you."

"Wha-at is going on here?!" Dewey demanded.

Della swiped a hand across her eyes, uncaring of the tears streaking down her feathers as joy, relief, and love swelled in her chest.

"Kids." Della turned. "This… well, this is your dad."

* * *

**A/N: Like I said above, feel free to use this AU if it so pleases you. ;P**


End file.
